ALTOONA, BLAIR COUNTY - Penn State Altoona and the Altoona Railroader's Memorial Museum are now working together to establish a new rail engineering program in Altoona. It's an academic initiative is expected to benefit both institutions.

 Demographic studies reveal that there are going to be a lot of openings in the rail industry for trained engineers in the years ahead. That's why Penn State Altoona is moving ahead with bachelor's degree that will cover all sorts of rail specific areas. Proposed degree will include mechanical, electrical and civil engineering technologies as well as business topics and will produce graduates who will possess the engineering talent coveted by the rail way industry.

The goal is to have the new civil engineering program accepting students in just over a year and a half. It will be fast-tracking them for industry jobs. The program is expected to graduate 25 to 30 people a year and from a survey within the industry, there is a demand for the trained engineers. Based on a discussion with rail industry leaders, supporters are already drawing up class lists for the degree. This program will feature at least seven new Penn State courses that will deal with rail topics specifically. Another factor that will set this program apart will be the involvement of the Railroaders Museum.

 It will allow the proposed railroad and transit engineering program to have a home, including lab space, at the museum for the students to work out of. That's why the people in charge of that museum are excited about the partnership. Supporters of the new engineering program say in addition to bringing Penn-State Altoona students to the museum, the effort may eventually grow to cover to other rail industry based job training programs.